The 2006 Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club from February 2-5 will be the richest in the tournament’’s 17 year history with a total purse of $2.4 million and a first prize of $400,000.
“Golf in the Middle East has moved on in leaps and bounds since The European Tour first came here back in 1989,” said Mohammed Alabbar, Chairman of the Dubai Desert Classic, organisers and promoters of the tournament.
“The Dubai Desert Classic is often referred to as the jewel in the crown of the Tour’’s overseas calendar and I think the consistently high quality of our field as well as the size of the prize money reflects that.
“We have already approved the new dates of February 2-5 as opposed to our normal dates in March in order to attract the best quality of field to the Majlis Course. By increasing the prize money, we are also underlining our commitment to attract the best golfers in the world to the Desert Classic.”
Although the Dubai Desert Classic is played in February, The 2006 European Tour International Schedule actually begins in November 2005 with the staging in Shanghai of the HSBC Champions tournament and then heads off to China, Hong Kong and South Africa before the turn of the year.
“The European Tour is a massive international business and we are always delighted to welcome the players and officials to the UAE for the Dubai Desert Classic,” added Alabbar.
In the 16 times the Dubai Desert Classic has been staged since Mark James won over the Majlis Course in 1989, no fewer than 14 different players have lifted the trophy. Defending champion Ernie Els is the only man to have won it more than once (1994, 2002 and 2005) and golf fans in the region will be hoping to see him go for title number four in February.
“I’’m confident we will have one of the strongest fields of the year,” said Alabbar. “We are currently in negotiations with several big names and expect to reveal the names of many of the players in the coming weeks.”
Besides DUBAL as the main sponsor of the Dubai Desert Classic, CNN International, Arabian Ranches by Emaar, Nakheel, and Samsung as co-sponsors, other sponsors include: Emirates as official airline and hole-in-one sponsor; official caterer, hotel and challenge match sponsor Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa; official bank National Bank of Dubai; official courtesy car BMW; and event newspaper Gulf News.
